Jaishankar reveals why Pakistan is an exception for India: 'Terror training camps in big cities ...'

• Jaishankar calls India-Pakistan ties an exception due to Islamabad's policies
• He condemns Pakistan's backing of anti-India terror groups and training camps.
• India adopts a different approach to Pakistan, focusing on targeted retaliation

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External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday spoke about the importance of strong neighbourly ties between countries but called India's relationship with Pakistan an "exception" due to the policies pursued by Islamabad.

Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Luxembourg, recalled how India always rushed to the help of its neighbours like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan during their hour of need as part of the country's Neighbourhood First policy.

However, the minister pointed out a stark exception to New Delhi's neighbourhood diplomacy: Pakistan.

" ... There are some exceptions. For us, the relationship with Pakistan is an exception. Show me in the world in this day and age any country which actually has actually pursued the kind of policies that Pakistan has against its neighbour," he said.

#WATCH | Luxembourg: On being asked about India's neighbours, External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar says, "...There are some exceptions. For us, the relationship with Pakistan is an exception. Show me in the world in this day and age any country which actually has actually… pic.twitter.com/wgcifTtJNf

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The minister blasted Pakistan's open support to anti-India terror groups who are allowed to operate freely on its soil.

"For decades, you had these training camps, not secret training camps; they're all training camps in the big cities of Pakistan, very open, where the state, the military supports terrorism, and they try to normalise it as though it's their right to do it. Nobody buys it anymore. Everybody knows that these are people who are supporting the state. It's a very unpalatable reality but it's one which we cannot be oblivious to," he said.

Jaishankar added: "We have to build our policies, saying okay, that's how that particular neighbour is going to be. Those who are willing to work with us and be helpful, positive, we'll have to deal with them in that way. Those who do the kind of things which Pakistan does, we'll have to deal with it in a different way."

The minister was indirectly referring to India's new approach to Pakistan on terror, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlining a doctrinal shift after Operation Sindoor that state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan would invite targeted and proportional retaliation from India.